Island Songs (piano trio)

Island Songs originally written for clarinet, violoncello, and piano, consists of three movements inspired by various Greek dance styles and was commissioned by the Kandinsky Ensemble. Rather than aiming to directly represent these dance forms, I intended Island Songs to reflect my personal response to the inherent energy they possess. In 1999, upon the request of the Ogen Trio, I created an alternate arrangement of Island Songs for piano trio (PE075) which was my first ever piano trio. The first movement involves a number of styles and reflects what I perceive as the latent energy in much of this music — although here this energy only surfaces from time to time. The second is a reaction to the great strength of the zeibekiko dance, which is in 9/4 time, and often extremely slow. While not cast in the same time frame as a true zeibekiko, this movement does dwell upon the uncertainty of the downbeat and the intensely focused emotional content of this dance. The third movement is much in the style of the sirto dance, whose energy is always lively and unfailingly contagious.

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